230 LAND BIRDS 
the winter these birds wander to the coast and the San 
Diegan district and south through the table-lands of 
Mexico. 
565. BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW. — Spizella 
atrigularis. 
Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. 
Length: 5.50-5.75. 
Adults: Upper parts rusty brownish, narrowly streaked with black ; 
head, neck, and under parts gray, becoming white on belly and under 
tail-coverts ; chin and upper throat black ; bill pinkish. 
Young: Similar to adults, but chin and throat gray instead of black ; 
chest indistinctly streaked. 
Geographical Distribution: Arizona south to the southern border of the 
United States and Lower California. 
California Breeding Range: Arid foot-hill regions of the southern Sierra 
Nevada and desert ranges. 
Breeding Season: April and May. 
Nest: Of grasses, on a foundation of leaves ; lined with hair; usually 
placed in low bushes. 
Eggs: 3 to 5; light greenish blue. Size 0.68 X 0.50. 
THe Black-chinned is a common summer visitant in 
the foot-hills of Southern California, and occasionally 
wanders as far as Alameda and Monterey counties. It 
haunts the grassy fields and low thickets on the edges of 
meadows, where the clear, low trill is heard through 
sunny hours. The nest is very like that of the Eastern 
field sparrow in construction, but is placed in bushes 
rather than on the ground. 
Incubation lasts twelve days, and the young remain in 
the nest ten days longer, being fed by one parent while 
the other anxiously tries to attract the attention of the 
intruder to himself. Rather than betray the hiding place 
